Exposing the underbelly of Armstrongism in all of its wacky glory! Nothing you read here is made up. Every crazy, weird and wacky quote is straight from the pens of Armstrongite leaders or members who think they possess some insight into God and the Bible. What you read here is the up to date face of Herbert W Armstrong's legacy. It's the gritty and dirty behind the scenes look at Armstrongism as you have never seen it before!

Monday, September 16, 2013

Bob Thiel: Is The The WORST COG "Behind The Work" Video Ever Produced By A COG?

Bob Thiel has released the video he wants shown at his Feast sites. It is in no way shape or form like any of the well produced BTW videos from WCG decades ago, UCG's or even LCG's today. It is appallingly BAAAAAAAAAAAD! I guess being unordained and self-appointed does have its problems!

The most noticeable improvement is that he no long looks like he is sitting on the floor. He now is a little higher up than the doors on his crooked bookcases. I mean, come on Dude! Surely you have a blank wall in your house that you cold put a really nice paining on for a backdrop. Crooked bookcases, a door with a doorknob sticking out next to your head, a file cabinet and some boxes of Fatima Shock next to it do NOT make an effective video for this world wide "work."

So with the facts, how would he do this “Behind the Work” video? Well
simple. It’s going to be an “All About Bob Thiel and his Church” video.
That’s pretty much the essence of it. The video will review Bob’s
schedule, go to his house (he says proudly), go visit a graphics
company, his office with the crooked bookcase where he says he is
currently filming, and see a “couple others” associated with his church.

At this point, we jump to Bob’s house. Bob reveals to all of us that
his day begins at 4:30 AM to 5:30 AM (Pacific Time), and he prays. After
he prays, he comes down, and “if he’s ready”, and work’s on the
computer. He’ll (on most mornings, he says) go through emails. He says
he gets between 100-200 emails a week. After he goes through his emails,
he says he will write a post at COGWriter, based on news, by going to
news sites like Google News or CBS News, and scan through headlines to
pick something prophetic. He then compares the beginning of his work
with what it was like when he first came into the Church with the Plain
Truth magazine in the way of news focus. Bob says people are interested
in news items and the “why’s” of what is going on. So Bob says he will
explain with how world events line up with Biblical prophecy.

In the mornings, he says it takes about 1/2 hr to 2hrs to “come up”
with his morning posts and eats breakfast at his home office. he’s up
before the rest of the family, and At 8 AM, he then heads to the office.
He compares what he is doing with how Herbert Armstrong started. Since
radio is no longer the primary media, he’ll go on the computer and find
news items. He explains how email and people send ideas to him about
what to post. He also says he will go into the Bible, and answer
internet questions about the Bible. He says he uses email for counseling
issues, marital and family issues. He says the work starts in his home
where he lives. He says after he’ll come back from the office he will
have dinner, go back to the office, check email again. (6:20).

He then takes us to his printing and graphics company who does his magazine for him. Literally.
That company lays out their magazine, and prints them for Bob’s
Church, and shows us where they print the magazines. He shows the
machine that will print his first mandarin magazine, showing the first
print. The machine is a small copy machine. Thiel says his wife Joyce
reviews and edits the weekly letter to the Brethren, on a standard
WordPress editor, exactly like I am using right here at “All About
Armstrongism”. His wife also is working to help out with the classic
“Feast Banners” for Bob’s Feast of Tabernacles at his 3 worldwide
locations. After this, we get a look at sidewalk and road construction
on the avenue. He calls this a distraction when he does the “Bible News
Prophecy” videos. He says this would be a “Different part of the Behind
the Work scenes then you’ve probably ever seen before”. Yes, Bob, that
would be absolutely true. Looking at sand, a sidewalk and a busy street
is definitely different.

And now we are going to look at what Bob Thiel typically does in a
normal week! Oh man, I need some popcorn and root beer now. I have a
feeling this is going to be exhilarating to watch. Giddy!
So, according to Bob, on a Monday, the first thing Bob will do is
take the video camera to his work and connect that video camera to his
laptop computer. And he will then upload his Sermon. He states how he
has reduced his YouTube upload time from 20 to 30 hours to 3 or 4 hours
by decreasing quality and increasing connection speed. Smart….

17 comments:

Anonymous
said...

Aw, Bob! Couldn't you find even one trumpet player to open your hour and a half (HOUR AND A HALF!) of dull ramblings for you? Might've helped if you had one to play a fanfare every few minutes to keep us awake. P.S. Using the same words and phrases that old HWA used does NOT make your message just as compelling -- you have to be able to somehow capture and hold listeners' interest. You lost me when you were shown saving electricity by working in the dark. 'Bye, Bob.

He - and his followers - would be better off reading the scholars: Christianity stands out as a religion that is not believed by its big leaders & scholars (this situation can not end well) I reference the Catholics in particular - that big religion, far from being an "End Time" threat, as he predicts in his video, is actually a failing institution where only the ignorant lay members believe Catholic dogma. Why doesn't the Pope, Jesuit & Dominican scholars believe? Because they READ!

After decades of research on the the sources used by the Gospel writers, Catholic scholar concludes they are mostly fiction : http://www.irishcentral.com/news/Irish-priest-disciplined-after-claims-Jesus-never-existed-in-controversial-book-187717531.html

I think a "Behind The Work" video from the Lemonade stand ran by the 12 year old down the road would be more interesting and productive than Thiels!

Shouldnt BANNNED have a "Behind The Work" video too??! LOL! Would love to see in depth, on site, interviews with Dennis, Byker Bob, Corky, Head Usher, Doug Becker, Dexter et al, and one of myself at the ranch, all busily typing away at their computers while we are all in our underwear.

Then a cut to Gary, receiving emails, and using google search to look for COG related pictures, and then posting them to BANNED, in this the most glorious of internet endeavors!

Isn't this like what they all believe about their millennium? They think that suddenly, and with no prior experience, poof, they will be kings and rulers?

I guess that justifies the do it yourself prophet routine. In the Bible, when God intended for people to be prophets, they were gifted with the abilities to accomplish the job. No gifting would seem to belie the idea that someone was supposed to be a prophet, but if you want to fake it, at least take community college level drama classes, or get some other type of coaching.

This is another guy playing mudpies with some accompanying delusions of grandeur.

Wow Joe! You're as bad as Thiel. I mean, who are you to compare yourself among Dennis, Byker Bob, Corky, Head Usher, Doug Becker, Dexter et al? You're a new comer, so what makes you think that you rate? Why don't you try to make yourself "famous" at UCG, instead of here?

I heard that the UCG's "Jelly" is overseeing that project (Because of UCG's income problems, Jelly has had to do some side work until the Kingdom comes.Bob Thiel has paid Miss Piggy to get Jelly into compromising positions so Thiel can take pictures of them together and hence cause rifts within COG Splinterland in order to get more people into his BEST FEAST EVER worldwide event!

"Steve" will replace Joe Moeller in this years BANNED "Behind the Work" video.

Said Moeller, "Its a great disappointment to be left out of the video this year, I thought I earned a spot and worked hard this past year in posting, but some within the BANNED community balked at this. Maybe next year"

"Steve", who replaced Moeller in the video, protested Moeller's original inclusion in the yearly BANNED highlight film, stating...

"This is a special calling here at BANNED, and we's got rules. You have to be bitching against Armstrong for at least 5 years on the net to be someone around here.

You dont get to be on TV or video, or the BANNED Behind the Work film or anything cool unless the rest of us say so. It sort of like being in a cult, we get to say who is in and who is not in. Its an US vs. THEM, and if you aint one of "US" then you can go to HELL, and you aint worth squat! Moeller thinks he is a cool dude, but it dont matter... if you go to UCG, then you are a turd, NO MATTER WHO YOU ARE!"

It appears to this reporter that hierarchy, class privilege, and guilt or esteeming by label and prejudice are alive and well regardless of group, COG, or EX-COG.

Steve,Don't be too hard on Joe for commenting here.Sure, as a member of the UCG that has a large portrait of Herbert W. Armstrong hanging prominently at their headquarters, he's apt to make comments that defend the UCG and their teachings.Most cult members act like pit bulls when defending their cults and their cult's teachings (that's to be expected), but at least Joe has a sense of humor and thinks Herb was a jerk, so he's got a foot out the door.

Many people, including elders in UCG have very little respect for HWA. I certainly do not.

Anyone under the age of 50 in UCG has no memory or recollection of HWA. HWA is not quoted as source material, nor is ever mentioned in church literature or on its broadcast.

HWA is RARELY ever mentioned from any pulpit, and even then it is never as an authority figure or the like, but more likely a personal historical reference by someone about their own past. Again, this rarely happens.

The HWA picture thing is a problem. Again, I know several elders who agree, the pictures need to go. It is a delicate political issue... who is going to have the gravitas to make the suggestion to move them out. Whoever has it done, will suffer the darts of morons like Malm, who will claim that they are "going liberal" or "going Tkachish" or whatever.

The UCG is still in recovery mode from the COGWA split, and doesnt need the hassle right now. In the end it is just a picture, and it was placed there by past leadership of UCG that is no longer in the organization.... Franks, Kilough, Hulme, McCullough etc.

I predict the day that the pictures are either removed or moved, is coming, likely in a few years.

Oh, crap!!! LOL! Back in the 1980s in Southern California, one of the aspects of massive immigration was that different ethnic groups would decide to settle in and virtually take over entire cities. Monterey Park, as an example, became the Asian Beverly Hills. Glendale became Armenia. Part of Los Angeles became Korea Town. Bigotted people began putting bumper stickers on their cars that asked "Will the last American leaving Monterey Park please bring the flag?"

Now, in our own merry little community here, I think a good satirical question might be, "Will the last Philadelphian to leave the ACOG please bring HWA's portrait?"

Of course, my own bumper sticker would probably read "Help stamp out false teachers, and all memory of them!"

I believe that if Armstrongism is to move forward, shedding toxicity and all of the cultic aspects, they're going to need to place less and less emphasis on the ol' fake apostle. The SDA church has learned to an extent to downplay Mrs. E. G. White, who was known to suffer from temporal lobe epilepsy. I've known a number of SDA people, and none of them would be what we'd call fanatics. I'd like to see the ACOGs mainstream in a similar manner..